Life List (3)

After that, I set off on the road with Asterios and Hwan. As we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠traveled along the coast, I picked up a wounded rabbit beastkin, and somehow encountered a sea serpent who had gained intelligence after being worshipped as a sea god, among other things.

Plenty happened, but... hmm. It'd be too much to lay it all out. Let's skip ahead briefly.

Gathering useful companions along the way and surveying the state of the world, I let out a small sigh. There were too many gods in this world. No—creatures without the qualifications were calling themselves gods and collecting faith.

Of course, not all of them lacked kindness... but it wasn't good for humans to depend on such gods.

Relying on real gods might be awfully convenient, but excessive dependence preventing humans from standing on their own was a problem. So... the gods needed to be culled. After culling, direct interaction between humans and gods had to be minimized.

"That's why we've spent months compiling a list of gods we have to kill after all that hard work."

"Mm. Must've been tough on you."

"Yeah. Super tough. Can you believe it? That gods' list! I never imagined the roster would keep growing in real time!"

With that, Sylphid unfurled the papyrus scroll in her hand. It stretched endlessly, rolling across the ground.

"Look at this! The list has no end!"

"Do you understand now why I said there are too many gods?"

"Yeah. I get it—a tiny bit—why you say that, Mom."

With gods springing up over every trivial thing, it was bound to be a problem. As human wisdom accumulated over time, faith in gods might naturally dwindle... but if gods already wielded strong influence on the earth, that faith wouldn't fade easily.

"But once so many gods vanish, won't the aftermath throw the world into chaos? Is that okay?"

"No problem. I'm not planning to smash them personally."

In some famous game, a hotheaded bald guy with anger issues slayed gods and wrecked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the world—but this world was different. Gods were born after the world and humans existed, so their disappearance wouldn't shatter everything.

"But... won't humans be confused without gods?"

"I've accounted for that, so don't worry."

Triggering the end of the gods' era and eroding faith in them would minimize the chaos. The best approach would be creating a massive religion to displace the old gods and consolidate all faith... but in the current situation, that would most likely birth a grand religion worshiping the Life Goddess.

"Mm... I don't know your exact plan, but you'll handle it somehow, Mom. I won't stress over it."

Sylphid said that and diligently rolled up the endlessly unfurled scroll before handing it to me.

"We made the list, but... we concluded only a few gods absolutely need killing. Most opinions favored stopping at seizing their divinity."

"Mm... Seizing divinity, huh."

I took the scroll from Sylphid and unfurled it slightly, taking in the top names.

The heads of each divine faction, called chief gods. And holders of Baal fragments. These ones needed punishment no matter what. The rest... gods demanding human sacrifice, victimizing humans, abusing heavenly punishment... hmm. Olympus had a heavy presence.

As I scanned down the list, detailed penalties for divinity seizure were noted beside each name.

"Mm. Long list—must've been quite the ordeal. I'll reflect your opinions well."

"Yeah, please do. We put so much thought into it."

I tucked the scroll into my bosom. It'd come in handy later.

"By the way, who are those kids traveling with you, Mom?"

"These ones?"

Sylphid gestured to the others nearby. Asterios, Hwan, the wounded rabbit beastkin Nava I'd picked up, and the sea serpent Yong-a, who gained divinity, wisdom, and a human form to follow me. All sorts—different homes, origins, races.

"Candidates for new gods, you could say."

"Huh? New gods?"

Sylphid's face twisted in disbelief at my words.

"Wait, you're the one saying there are too many gods and we need to cut them down—now you're adding more? That doesn't add up! Feels contradictory."

"These kids have roles. Originally, I thought of making them racial gods for the beastkin tribes under Sirius..."

"Originally?"

"But I figured we could add more roles."

"Roles...? You're already complaining about too many gods, and now you're making more and assigning roles?"

I chuckled softly.

"Call it guards for the Pantheon."

"Guards? Isn't Sirius enough?"

"For guarding the entrance, sure."

Sylphid tilted her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head at my words.

"Not the entrance—what else needs guarding?"

"Yeah. Specifically, guarding against anything coming out from inside."

"From inside to outside...?"

In other words, like prison guards.

"Not protecting gods from outside threats—but keeping the Pantheon's gods from escaping?"

"Exactly. The only place for gods is the Pantheon. Escaping would require great sacrifice or special conditions."

"Wait, why go that far? Are gods really such a problem?"

Problem. Yes—a problem. We couldn't just leave uncontrolled powers beyond human capacity unchecked. Weeds growing wild must be culled. Especially if they parasitized other flowers or trees.

"If there weren't problems, would I bother this much?"

Sylphid still seemed dissatisfied, but I didn't expect full understanding. I longed not for a world overrun by rampant gods, but an era where life flourished. So, until then... I'd keep at it.

"Honestly, even without you doing this, gods would decline eventually... but you must have your reasons."

I just smiled faintly at Sylphid's sigh.

After that, I wandered the world a bit more. I stopped at a lizardman village, talked down one who sensed the Primordial Dragon's wrath from me and tried to set himself ablaze to appease it, educated him never to try again, and dragged him along.

A tiny horse god Epona, born from faith in the legendary Epona... strictly speaking, not the original but a namesake born from inherited legends and worship. Something like that. Anyway, this new Epona clung to me upon sight and tagged along.

Barometz, a sheep beastkin shepherd who tended sheep and traveled seeking the legendary self-growing sheep-wool plant to prevent his sheep from dying, joined too.

While heading east for that cotton plant, I had Asterios subdue a monkey-tailed beastkin blocking the road and causing trouble, named him Son Oh Gong, gave him a mental reeducation, and brought him along.

Further east, I witnessed the east—Kunlun—devastated by scorching heat from the sun gods; I rescued a chicken beastkin suffering for shooting down nine of the ten sun gods with arrows as punishment. (Kunlun was half-destroyed afterward. Serves them right for not managing their own sun gods.)

Heading north through the snowfields, I tamed a giant wolf god imprisoned by the Aesir and brought him—Fenrir—along. I scolded a pig beastkin causing nuisances for money, then added him to the group.

After traveling everywhere, meeting all sorts, and facing various events... I began some backroom work.

One day, a rumor began spreading among the Pantheon gods.

With Baal, once seated as king of gods, vanished, the age of gods would end. Only a handful of the myriad gods would survive; most would lose divinity and fall to earth. Those responsible for Baal's death wouldn't be permitted to exist.

Countless gods ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sought the rumor's source, using their followers to track it down. They found her—a being living alone in the Deep Forest, denied even a sliver of sunlight.

An extraordinary existence who foresaw all future events. The one called the Deep Forest Sage.